New Year, new era for public health says County Council

Now is the time when people start to feel the effects of Christmas excesses, and resolve to live healthier, fitter and more active lives; give up smoking or reduce their alcohol intake. And with just three months to go before the County Council takes on the responsibility for improving the health of Devon’s communities, Devon’s Director of Public Health and Devon County Council’s lead for health and wellbeing are making New Year’s resolutions of their own.

“January is typically a time when people pledge to improve their lifestyles, either by quitting smoking, cutting down on their alcohol, or taking up a new sport or leisure activity to get fit,” said Dr Virginia Pearson, Devon’s Director of Public Health.

“Our role in public health is to provide the opportunities and support for people to achieve these aspirations. We need to help people stay healthy and fit for longer, reduce health inequalities across the county, and reduce lifestyle-affected diseases and deaths.

“In Devon, people live for longer than the national average, but there are significant inequalities across the region that need addressing – with over 13 years difference in average life expectancy between a resident living in Ilfracombe, the lowest; and Chagford, which is the highest.

“There are also pockets of rural deprivation in Devon where average life expectancy is lower, sometimes because people there have more unhealthy lifestyles.

“Smoking is still the single biggest lifestyle factor affecting people’s health, and also costs society almost £200m per year, causing life-impairing diseases like Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).  We will continue to help people stop smoking, through programmes like the recent Stoptober campaign, which showed a 15% increase in people quitting smoking.

“Alcohol is also one of the leading causes of health problems in Devon, with thousands of people in Devon now regularly drinking at dangerous levels.  More than 18,000 people in the county have an alcohol dependency and over 2,500 people in Devon are putting their health at risk by drinking significantly more than the recommended limit. In 2011/12, 8% of hospital admissions locally were related to alcohol consumption. Our campaigns on the dangers of excess alcohol raise awareness and provide signposting to support services.

“And childhood obesity is a public health concern in Devon, and there is a real danger that the next generation will live shorter lives than their parents.  We need to tackle this issue now, and encourage families to take more physical activity and eat more healthily.”

Councillor Andrea Davis is Devon County Council’s lead Member for health and wellbeing, and also chairs the Devon Health and Wellbeing Board.

“Public health affects almost every area of the Council’s business,” said Cllr Davis.  “From early years education and children’s social care through to building bridges and cycle paths, we need to create and sustain strong, healthy communities; and that means making sure that public health becomes an integral part of our thinking and planning.

“We must look at the factors affecting the health of Devon’s communities and see how we can best address them.  But we can’t do this on our own. It’s vital that we work with our partners in district councils, statutory services like fire and police; with the new clinical commissioning groups and GPs, and with communities themselves to improve people’s health and reduce the health inequalities that currently exist.

“April will see the dawning of a new era for local government, which is well placed to drive forward the transformation of public health and promote health equalities across Devon.”